


Extra Whipped Cream

by reallycooltrash



Category: Tales of Zestiria
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-08
Updated: 2017-01-08
Packaged: 2018-09-15 16:18:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,646
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9243728
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/reallycooltrash/pseuds/reallycooltrash
Summary: It's time for that obligatory coffeeshop au





	

**Author's Note:**

> i've recently started working at a coffeeshop myself and a really cute girl walked in and i was totally breath taken and gay which is why i felt the need to write this where things actually happen pls&thx

Mikleo had recently moved to Pendrago to attend the local and infamous university there. The university had been known to have great classics and archaeology programs, though they were smaller and more tight-knit than the usual classes due to the course in of itself not being very popular. That was great because the less popular a course, the more time Mikleo would have to talk to the teacher one-on-one instead of being a face lost in a massive lecture hall. 

Then of course, Pendrago had a great amount of history within its walls, enough that Mikleo was sure that on his days off from work and class would have him wandering around and getting lost in his thoughts and the city.

It had taken a lot of convincing for Mikleo to make his mother let him go, far from their home in Camlann, but eventually Muse had reluctantly let him go, peppering his face with kisses before he left for the plane. He still burns thinking about how embarrassing it was in front of the rushing masses.

But, it had been worth it. The city was exhilarating and everything he had dreamed of: freedom, history, and new people. Well, not so much the new people, he didn’t care much for too much social interaction, but he appreciated fresh faces after living in practically a village his whole life.

He was even lucky enough that the roommate he had been assigned to share a dorm with never showed up and the tiny space had suddenly become completely his. The only downside? Work.

Mikleo worked at a decently sized and decently popular coffee shop near the Pendrago Shrine. He had first discovered it after exploring said shrine all day and needing a place to rest and pull up google maps properly without dropping the million things he was carrying. He had decided to drop a few dollars and buy a coffee just so he didn’t look like he was loitering around the cafe in the meantime. 

It had been surprisingly very good despite his usual distaste for bitter things so he stopped by every so often when he had class- before or after- for a quick caffeinated pick-me-up. It hadn’t taken very long before he became a regular so when the coffee shop had begun hiring, the application process wasn’t a very long one.

Now, it isn’t to be said that Mikleo hated his job. In fact, he found it to be very fun. Making coffee and learning all of the drinks on the menu took him a few weeks but by the time he got the hang of it, he couldn’t help but be excited for work, as much as that sentence sounds wrong. 

His coworkers were nice as well. Edna usually worked the afternoons along with Mikleo since he tried to schedule most of his classes in the morning. He rarely saw any other shift-manager but the tiny blonde. She was mean and intimidating at first but he realized she was just teasing after a week or two. She tended to stay in the back rooms of the shop on the computer so at least Mikleo wasn’t subject to her teasing as much as he could be. Though, when she did come out she was constantly poking his back with metal spoons or hitting his head with paper cups while he was tending to customers for the sole sake of embarrassing him. 

Another coworker, Lailah, was always working when he came in to start his shift. She was a familiar and welcoming face. Mikleo had easily decided she was just like a mother from the moment she spoke to him, it was just in her personality. She had helped him with most of his training and was very kind and patient throughout it so it wasn’t hard to think otherwise.It was hard, however, to not like her.. Soon enough, through casual conversations Mikleo found out that she had once worked with his uncle Michael and he believed that if she could handle him, Lailah couldn’t be less than the most tolerant person in the world. 

A few faces he didn’t see quite as much were Dezel and Zaveid. Dezel, though partially blind, could run the coffee machines like he could actually run, which is to say, very well. Mikleo was totally impressed and continued to be from the moment he first saw him do his work so expertly. Dezel could even tell apart which milk was which when Mikleo was still checking the bottle just to be completely sure he had the right one.

Zaveid, on the other hand was just a mess. He was good at making coffee, sure, but he spilled everything he did as he went. When he was on shift, Mikleo found himself constantly busting out the mop and new rags to clean up every single station. Though, even Mikleo had to admit that Zaveid had his strengths. For one, he was really good with customers. When Mikleo had trouble trying to please them or they tried to give him a hard time, the tall man would slide right over and ease the situation quicker than the speed of light. And speaking of tall, that was his only other useful function, Mikleo and Edna had both agreed on this. Whereas the majority of the staff was sufficiently short or rather average height, Zaveid was their personal step ladder. Edna constantly ordered him to stock things on the highest shelf or grab things for her even when she herself could reach it. It was surprising how Zaveid never even got angry, he just sauntered around and ruffled her head afterwards which took guts, Mikleo thinks, since Edna immediately jabs his gut afterwards every time.

There were other employees too, but Mikleo mostly saw the four for scheduling reasons but he didn’t really mind. The only thing he minded was how tired he was afterwards. It’s like the moment he sat down for break, school and work caught up and suddenly he felt exhausted. Going back to work after break was hell but it was a hell he could live with.

___

 

Work was slower than usual today. There had been random bursts of customers all at once before settling into silence for another half-hour. It was a colder than usual autumn day and people weren’t willing to get out of their cars and tourism at the Pendrago shrine nearby was empty for similar reasons. To sum up, it was dead.

Edna was in the back as usual and Lailah was tending to stock and running back and forth between the back and the bar area of the cafe, counting everything they had to help Edna draw up an order later that day. 

Mikleo was left alone to take orders and make drinks but he figured it would be fine, it was boringly empty anyways. He just stared out the window at the falling orange and green leaves and when that got boring too, he peeked at people sitting at the tables quietly in the cafe.

A chime of the bell hanging on the door caught his attention and two girls walked in. They talked quietly before placing their things and taking their jackets off at one of the cafe tables before wandering up to the register. 

He recognized one, the redhead, as a regular. Even before he started working at the shop, he remembered standing in line behind her almost everyday. Her companion, however, was new. She was pretty. She held her dirty blonde hair into a tiny side-ponytail and her light green eyes scanned the menu. He figured it might be her first time here since, most of the time, it’s everyone’s first time. You were either a regular or a first-timer, he had learned. All the tourism meant people were only visiting but at the same time, locals who didn’t visit regular tourist sights usually missed out on the out-of-the-way coffee shop.

The first girl leaned up against the counter and smiled. 

“Mikleo.” she addressed him. He couldn’t help but smile back at her. Despite his usual avoidance to conversation, she had come by so often she made it a point to have one. “Rose.” he said back.

She grinned before pulling out her wallet and her membership card (oh yeah she had one of those. She would’ve had two if they let her). “The regular?” he asked. “You know it.” she replied back just as quickly. “Anything else today?” he asked, eyeing the girl next to her. “Yeah we’ll get- Alisha what do you want?”

The other girl, Alisha, seemed to hesitate before looking over to Mikleo. “A medium mint tea?”

Mikleo nodded and scribbled their orders on the appropriately sized cups and got to work making them. Rose hung by the bar, watching him make her weird sugary concoction of a latte as he went. “So how’s work been today?” she asked casually, just as she usually did. “Slow. You wouldn’t believe it.”

Rose looked around the barren cafe and smiled more, believe it or not. “I believe it. But at least you’re getting paid for doing, like, nothing.” Mikleo shook his head as he poured the shots of espresso into her drink, “I’d rather work than do nothing. It gets so boring.” “You’re probably the weirdest person I’ve even met. Who likes working?” 

“ _ Me _ .” Mikleo laughed as he passed Rose her drink over the counter before gathering the tea bags for Alisha’s. “What about you, though? Aren’t you in school for business? You’re like the ultimate essence of liking to work. That stuff is enough to put me to sleep in three seconds flat.”

Rose took a large gulp of her disgusting order and let out a big ‘aaah!’ afterwards as she answered back, “To you, business is my coffee and history!”

Mikleo was about to reply something witty back again before he had to take a double take. “W-What!? How’d you know I like history in the first place!?” he almost shouted.

“Listen, Mikleo, pal, buddy, friend, person who serves me my favorite coffee. I see everything in this city and that included you getting lost after looking at a really old library a few months back. At it! Instead of just in it like a regular book nerd! You were practically touching the stone with your face you were looking so hard! Plus it’s not hard to tell and your hair is super recognizable.”

“I-I wasn’t lost then! And I certainly wasn’t as invested as you make it seem! I was coolly observing the adhesive they used to keep the stones together.” Mikleo tried to explain, trying not to feel embarrassed at the thought of him looking hopelessly lost and hopelessly nerdy but that sentence itself was nerdy enough to disprove his point. 

“Yeah, and I’m the High Priestess at the church. Pass me that tea and I’ll let you go already.” Rose insisted, making grabby hands for the drink.

Mikleo decided to drop the subject to avoid further making a fool of himself and handed her Alisha’s now finished drink. “Make sure you get some actual studying done today instead of just fooling around.” 

“I’ve got Alisha for that, thank you.” she grinned cockily before settling in at the table she and Alisha left all their things at and immediately busting out her phone instead of opening the textbook she had left on the table earlier. 

Mikleo scoffed as he set to work cleaning all of the materials he used to make the coffee and then wiping down the counters again for the hundredth time that hour.

Rose had given him a short interlude from from his boredom but that didn’t last very long as she and Alisha soon set to work and even they’re quiet chatter turned silent.

Mikleo looked for any mindless task he could get his hands on while waiting for another customer or thing to do. When Lailah popped out from the back rooms to count what product was out front she gave him an apologetic smile. “It’s just as boring in the back too.”

Mikleo was sure, it was a slow day and everyone from the morning shift had been so on top of their work for days there wasn’t much to do when the afternoon shift rolled in and the crowds slowed. Mikleo assured her he was okay though, giving him the same line Rose had said earlier, even if he didn’t quite mean it: “it’s okay, it’s like i’m getting paid for doing nothing.”

Eventually his only talking buddy had retreated into the back, finding everything in place, leaving Mikleo the only out front again. He was tempted to play on his phone for a bit but he didn’t want to be caught by Edna if she made one of her rare excursions actually out into the bar.

The bell on the door chimed for the second time in the hour and in walked a decently tall guy bundled up in the puffiest winter jacket Mikleo had even seen. When he took off his hood, it revealed a fluffy mass of pure bedhead and jade eyes shining from the afternoon light that filtered through the cafe’s windows.

Overall, Mikleo was starstruck. Of course he had seen his fair share of better-than-average looking customers but for whatever reason the guy who just walked in totally took his breath away.

He didn’t recognize him at all so he figured he might be a first-timer to the cafe by the way he stood by the entrance, and looking like he was practically studying the menu.

Despite himself, Mikleo couldn’t help but find himself mentally hoping the handsome man would order instead of looking and leaving after not finding anything he particularly wanted like some customers.

Instead of either, Rose and her friend Alisha looked up and shouted, “Sorey!” catching both the man’s and other customers’ attention. The man, Sorey, grinned widely and made his way over to the pair and settled down at the table easily. Mikleo caught him mentioning something about how absolutely freezing it was before breaking out his own textbook between their conversation.

_ Ah, it’s a studygroup.  _ Mikleo thought.  _ That means he’s here just to study so he might not order a drink...  _

The young employee couldn’t help but sour a little at the thought but he did his best to get away from it. He was probably just upset because he lost the chance to ease his boredom, he tried to convince himself.

_ Plus,  _ Mikleo’s thoughts kept involuntarily adding.  _ He’s with Rose and her friend. Out of the two of them, it’s guaranteed one of them has to be his girlfriend.  _ Mikleo had to shake the thoughts out of his head again.  _ What am I even thinking? I can’t flirt anyways- I wouldn’t and I couldn’t, i’m too weak. _

“Um, excuse me.” A voice cut through his thoughts. 

Mikleo made sure to look up immediately and smile apologetically, how could he not realize someone standing right in front of him! “I’m so sorry I didn’t notice you! I was lost in my own thoughts, what can I get started for you to-”

And then he noticed. No wonder he didn’t hear a new customer coming in through the door, it was Sorey! He had practically snuck up on him and so did the blush on his cheeks. Hopefully Sorey couldn’t read minds.

“-dAY! What can I get started for you today!” he finished quickly, turning his eyes quickly to the register instead of his customer’s handsome face. 

He heard some soft laughing from where Sorey was standing and he could swear he felt his face burn more. Suddenly he wished for the store to be emptier and have much less cute boys. “It’s okay, I get lost up there sometimes too.”

Mikleo struggled to make eye contact again but forced himself to. He couldn’t find anymore words in his throat to respond so he just awkwardly smiled waiting for the other to actually place his order.

“Oh!” Sorey said, seeming to realize too that he was waiting and seemed a little embarrassed himself. “Could I just get a hot chocolate- WITH WHIPPED CREAM. A lot if you guys don’t charge extra for it.”

Mikleo found it impossible but to smile a little more genuinely, all his expectations for how cool and totally out of his league (in a friend way!) Sorey could be flew out the window. He had never heard someone ask for extra whip in such a dorky and loud way.

“No it’s not extra. I’ll fit on as much as possible.” he said jokingly to which Sorey looked seriously relieved, furthering Mikleo’s amusement with him.

“Now since this is your first time here,-” “It is! How’d you know!!” he replied, surprised. “I’m a wizard.” Mikleo returned nonchalantly and to which Sorey snorted at, making Mikleo’s heart beat a little bit faster.

“But since it’s your first time here I should let you know our hot chocolates come out more on the bitter side. Do you want me to sweeten that up for you?”

To Mikleo’s surprise, Sorey suddenly burst out the moment he finished his sentence with: “Don’t worry! You’re sweet enough as is!”

They both heard Rose bark out the loudest laugh either of them had ever heard and suddenly Sorey rushed to cover his mouth looking much more flustered.

“Sorry!” he apologized quickly. “That just came out and I-! I-! Um, yes I would like it sweetened.” 

Sorey dropped a five dollar bill on the counter before shuffling away mumbling “please keep the change,” and dropping down into his chair amongst Alisha and Rose where he proceeded to bang his head on the table and his two friends laughed and poked him.

Mikleo’s mind came to a complete halt and it took a minute of just watching the other before he came back to himself. He gently pinched his wrist before finally grabbing the five and dropping it’s change into the store’s tip jar. 

In the short time it took him to make the drink he kept replaying the scene of just what happened over and over in his head. One, a cute guy walked into the store and he was totally Mikleo’s type, in a friend way, or at least that’s what Mikleo kept telling himself. Two, when he thought he wouldn’t even have a chance to talk to this guy, he casually strolls right up. Three, he flirted with Mikleo of all people!! Did this even happen in real life or is he somehow on another plane of existence?

When making the hot chocolate, he added so much whipped cream a cover wouldn’t even fit on the cup and when he called out the order, Sorey showed up so quickly he hadn’t even had a chance to put it on the counter yet and retreat.

Sorey seemed to make sure their hands brushed and Mikleo was starting to feel overwhelmed. Sorey, on the other hand, seemed more composed than before and only smiled charmingly. “Thank you, Mikleo.” he said, and Mikleo swore he smiled larger when he saw him blush, that sneaky devil. Instead of saying anything more though, he just nodded the best he could and retreated to the back of the store as quickly as he could without making it look like he was literally running away.

“Can I take my ten?” he asked Edna from where she sat at her desk. He knew it was cowardly but he was embarrassed just standing in the same room as Sorey and wanted to hide out in the back for a bit to let his poor heart rest a bit.

Edna looked up from where she was working on her computer and scowled. “I guess you’re scheduled for one right now.” And then she sighed dramatically. “Lailah, you’re going to have to stay out front for 10 minutes while Meebo so selfishly rests.”

“Hey!” he tried to intervene but Edna just ignored him. Sighing himself, Mikleo took off his apron and hung it up and sat down in one of the foldable chairs and pulled out his phone when Edna stopped him. 

“Oh no. You’re not staying back here. Go sit in the cafe for your break, you’re interrupting my thinking process.” she said, trying to shoo him out. “But I’m not saying anything! And you’re just watching videos!”

“Exactly. Important videos. You’re breathing is too loud so leave or I’ll end your shift right now and you can go home.” she argued, never even turning to face him properly. 

Mikleo sighed finding no use in arguing and grabbed his stuff and settled in a seat close to the bar and far away from Rose, Alisha, and Sorey sat. God, he hoped they didn’t notice him out there.

Lailah showed up in front of him two minutes in and dropped a heavily sweetened coffee in front of him and smiled. “One ‘black’ coffee for your break.” Mikleo grinned at her, forgetting all his worries even just for a second.

“Thank you, mom.” he joked, knowing it would irk her. But honestly, she really was just like a mom, even going so far as to know his preferences and how embarrassed he is by those preferences. 

She pouted and said “I’d rather you call me big sis but I’ll let it slide...again.” 

“But you be good, I’ll leave you be with your...friend?” she said, looking over Mikleo’s shoulder before going back behind the bar.

“My friend?” Mikleo asked himself aloud as he turned around and saw no one. But when he turned back around, suddenly the seat next to him was occupied and his heart nearly leapt out of his throat in surprise

“Oh my god! You scared the hell out of me!” Mikleo half-shouted at Sorey, who could only laugh at him. 

“I’m sorry! I’m sorry!” Sorey gasped between his laughs. Damn him, it was hard to stay mad but he pretended to anyways, looking away from him and drinking his coffee. 

“I really wanted to talk to you but I didn’t think you would get so scared!” his laughter had died down and he only looked at Mikleo with kindness. 

“Why would you want to talk to me? Did I make something in your hot chocolate wrong?” Mikleo asked, peeking towards where Alisha and Rose sat. They both looked away when they caught his look and pretended they weren’t.

“Huh!? No way! It was the best I’ve ever had and I appreciate how much whipped cream you really added on for me.” he said quickly, trying to really assure Mikleo he wasn't talking to him for something so trivial as a complaint.

“I just wanted to know if… if you were off your shift now?” Mikleo looked at him strangely, not quite picking up on the implications and just shook his head. “I’m not, I’m just on my ten, well my six minutes left.”

Sorey seemed to visibly deflate. “Oh.”  Mikleo was suddenly curious as to why this was and decided he might as well ask: “Why?”

Instantly Sorey seemed to stiffen and avoid eye contact. “I-! Um-! I heard from Rose that you like history a lot so I wanted to talk a bit and see if we like the same kind-!!” he managed to get out awkwardly.

Mikleo was finding that he didn’t quite believe him completely and wondered why either Sorey was asking about him or Rose was talking about him. “Well,” he began, looking at Sorey’s avoiding eyes, “I enjoy the mythology surrounding the shepherd and his seraphim and the belief the ancient people of Glenwood had in them. But personally I’m curious to see if the shepherd really existed. Seraphim seem a little farfetched but maybe they did have a priest who fought off 'physical evils' and he was the shepherd?”

By the end of his sentence he realized he might’ve answered Sorey’s question a little too much in depth and a little too boringly until he saw that the other was actually listening? 

Sorey seemed more than excited as he answered back. “That’s my favorite too! Although I really believe that the seraphim exist kind of like in the same way ghosts exist! And maybe naturally the hellions that the shepherd fought were real too!”

“Well I guess if you believe in spiritual stuff like that, but there’s absolutely no evidence proving their existence one way or another so you can't base your facts on stuff like hellions and seraphim-”

“What about the statues in the church! You’ve heard of those right? They were all too detailed to of been created by an artist of that era! And adding on to that, the stone they were made of were all dated to nearly the same year! It’s impossible to create one of those in a span of months let alone hundreds in a single year? Not to mention that the type of stone they were carved into is incredibly brittle and it would be nearly impossible to carve something so intricate into such a difficult to work with material. It had to be the medusa hellion that the ‘Adventures of the Shepherd’ mentioned!”

“That book? Though it’s very good and very detailed it’s just a best-selling novel of the pre-modern era. It’s nothing more than fiction that a lot of people took too seriously.”

“But a seraph wrote it! Luzrov Rulay! How can it be anything but real.”

“But seraphim might  _ not  _ be real-! It was probably a human author using a fancy pseudonym and pretending he was a seraphim to try and get more attention” Mikleo retorted back, feeling content with his answer.

“You said might! Does that mean you believe there’s a chance the seraphim actually existed or do you belie-!” his own retort was cut short by Lailah gently cutting off the conversation with, “Mikleo, you’re ten is over. I’m sorry, you seemed to be having so much fun.”

Mikleo blushed a bit and coughed into his fist. “It’s fine, Lailah. I’ll go put on my apron now.”

As he stood up to leave, Sorey caught his sleeve and stood up as well. “I’m not letting you get away without admitting you believe in seraphim if even a little bit.”

“I think you’re being foolish to wholeheartedly believe that without considering outside factors aside from the possibility mythology is real.” Mikleo countered in return when he heard Lailah cough and both he and Sorey turned to her again apologetically.

Sorey asked a little more urgently, “When’s your shift end? I wanna keep discussing this.” 

“I don’t get off till eight,” Mikleo answered a little sadly, he was enjoying their little debate too.

“I’ll be long gone… Can I get your number, then?” Sorey asked innocently. 

Mikleo felt the burning sensation from when Sorey first talked to him return to his face again at full throttle as he choked out, “My n-number?”

He heard Lailah gasp an “Oh my!” but his thoughts were completely on Sorey and not the attention on them both.

“Yeah! I wanna keep talking about this but I don’t know when you’ll work again. Plus this’ll be much easier.” he insisted, pulling his own phone out of his pocket. 

“I-I guess that makes sense… Let me put myself in your contacts then…” Mikleo relented and took Sorey’s phone from him.

When all was said and done, and Mikleo had returned to the back with Lailah to put his apron on, Sorey had turned to Rose, who gave him a wink and a thumbs up, and done a fist pump.

____

  
The next day, Rose had leaned over the counter casually again and said, “Y’know he set his contact picture of you as a secret picture he took of you when you were working yesterday."  


**Author's Note:**

> So this is a little longer and has more information that necessary because I'm kinda setting myself up so if I ever want to add more chapters I can? But pls don't expect much bc i already have another fic on here i never finished OTL
> 
> But I pick things up sometimes so there's hope!! Thank u for reading tho♡


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